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NBET Pays Gencos N12.69bn Electricity Invoices In February

The Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET) said it paid about N12.69 billion to electricity generating companies (GenCos) in the country out of the total invoices of ? 37.38 billion for energy delivered in February, The Guardian reports.

NBET, which made this known in its “Gencos payment based on Distribution Companies (Discos) receipt,” said this represents 33.29 per cent of their total invoices for the month. Between February 2015 and December 2016, the market shortfall (amount owed by Discos to the rest of the market) was estimated at N473 billion, with tariff shortfall put at N458 billion. These led to the slow performance of the power sector that created dissatisfaction among electricity customers who are frustrated by the poor quality of service.

NBET put the total energy generated by GenCos in February at 3,541 megawatt hours (MWh), while total energy delivered to the DisCos was 3,019 MWh. Although, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) provided a N701 billion facility, to assist NBET in meeting its payment obligations from the generation invoices to ease the liquidity challenges, the Gencos are yet to get full payment of all the outstanding debts. The President, Association of Power Generation Companies (APGC), Joy Ogaji, said the huge debt is hindering the gencos’ operations, including paying their workers, settling contractors, and purchasing gas to power the plants.

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